Dissonance Reduction In The
Early Years Of The Unification Movement: A Critical Appraisal Of
Christian-Unification Relations As Illustrated In Exposition Of The
Divine Principle

Harumi Kawamura2000Journal of
Unification Studies Volume V

Introductions to the history of the Unification Church are quick
to mention that the founding of the Holy Spirit Association for the
Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) was in fact a circuitous
means to the desired end. Rather, because "Christianity couldn't
fulfill her mission,"[i] the founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon,
resorted to creating his own church through which he sought to unify
the divided churches into one divinely inspired association.[ii]
While this interpretation of events may suffice within the
Unification community, I argue that due to the dissonance that
developed within the early membership of the church in view of
Christianity's rejection of Rev. Moon, an anti-Christian attitude has
since then developed. This is well illustrated in the Exposition of
the Divine Principle [Exposition].

While I do acknowledge that recent events, particularly in the
United States, indicate efforts toward the development of
Christian-Unification relations, I argue in this paper that
Exposition contains remnants of this anti-Christian attitude. For
fruitful dialogue between Unificationism and Christianity, however,
and even more, for Unificationism to move further along the road of
respectability, I believe there should take place a reconsideration
of existing attitudes and perceptions of Christianity, particularly
as depicted in Exposition.

In perhaps the most formative work on cognitive dissonance theory,
Leon Festinger and his colleagues delineate three possible methods of
reducing dissonance in face of a disconfirming fact. He writes:

Dissonance produces discomfort and, correspondingly, there will
arise pressures to reduce or eliminate the dissonance. Attempts to
reduce dissonance represent the observable manifestations that
dissonance exists. Such attempts may take any or all of three forms.
The person may try to change one or more of the beliefs, opinions, or
behaviors involved in the dissonance; to acquire new information of
beliefs that will increase the existing consonance and thus cause the
total dissonance to be reduced; or to forget or reduce the importance
of those cognitions that are in a dissonance relationship.[iii]

In particular, for those whose "behavioral commitment to the
belief system is so strong," Festinger argues that it is more
painful to discard the belief than to eliminate the dissonant
perception.

In his studies of early Christianity, Bart D. Ehrman describes
cognitive dissonance in more concrete terms:

Religious groups (sometimes called "sects") that split
off from larger communities often feel persecuted, many times with
considerable justification, and build ideological walls around
themselves for protection. A kind of fortress mentality develops, in
which the small splinter group begins to think that it has been
excluded because those of the larger society are willfully ignorant
of the truth, or evil, or demonically possessed. There can arise a
kind of "us versus them" mentality, in which only those on
the inside are "in the know" and stand "in the
light."[iv]

While I do not intend to delve too much into the topic,
Christian-Jewish relations in the first and second centuries c.e.
serve as a good illustration of such developments within new
religious movements. W. H. C. Frend notes that though Christianity
originally competed with Judaism for its converts,[v] as time passed
and as Jewish Christians were cast out of the synagogues,[vi] "'the
disbelieving Jew' had become the enemy, the persecutor, and defamer
of the faith."[vii]

In the case of Unificationism, from the start Rev. Moon was clear
in ascertaining that his mission was to establish the foundation of
unity with Protestantism in order to establish a worldwide
foundation.[viii] According to Rev. Moon,

At the time the Christians should have [united] with me,
Korea was under [the] American military government. Through the
Christians I could have united with the government. And through the
government I could have united with the democratic world.[ix]

Christianity, in Rev. Moon's words, was represented by, among
several others, Baek Moon Kim, the leader of a small Christian
spiritualist group; it is believed that Rev. Moon's mission was to
have been advanced through the relationship between the two men. It
is generally understood that Kim was "the providential key
person in the position of John the Baptist."[x] As Kazuhiro
Tsusaka explains it in his thesis written at the Unification
Theological Seminary, "God gave Baek Moon Kim the revelation
that he had to prepare to receive the second coming of the
Messiah."[xi] At the time the two met, Kim had succeeded in
becoming a famous Korean mystic with connections to the first
president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee. In order to become the
successor to Kim's foundation, Rev. Moon "took an unassuming
role when he visited Kim's group, and did menial tasks."[xii]
The Unification account is that "[Moon] prayed hard for Mr. Kim
to understand [Rev. Moon]'s role."[xiii] Yet events did not
follow as planned.

Michael Breen writes, "Several months after Moon joined the
group, Kim placed his hand on Rev. Moon's head in blessing and said
the wisdom of Solomon was with him."[xiv] From Rev. Moon's
perspective, "Kim's recognition of Moon was the providential
event, the precondition for the group to receive the Holy
Spirit."[xv] In Tsusaka's words, "Kim should have realized
Rev. Moon's identity, i.e., his messianic status."[xvi] While
Kim's group claims that it was Rev. Moon who ultimately failed by
splintering off from the group,[xvii] the Unification belief is that
though Jesus had "appeared to [Kim] during his service…
he could not understand his mission, and did not follow the
Messiah."[xviii] Kim's group recalled that their leader asked
Rev. Moon to leave[xix] and even prevented his people from following
Rev. Moon.[xx] It can be assumed that in the eyes of Unificationists,
Kim's refusal to work with Rev. Moon was perceived as the symbolic
rejection of Rev. Moon by all of Christianity. Tsusaka dramatically
writes, "Kim's failure caused the collapse of the last
foundation which God had prepared in South Korea."[xxi]
According to Rev. Moon, soon after, "all the spiritual
foundation of Christianity was lost in the providence."[xxii]
According to a Unificationist account, the mission of the Unification
Church was to "indemnify the failures of Christianity to unite
with God's providence for the fulfillment of the Second
Advent."[xxiii]

Early disciples recall the bitter persecution they received from
the other churches. Sociologists David G. Bromley and Anson D. Shupe
note, "Christian church leaders were instrumental in mobilizing
social control against the Unification Church even before its formal
establishment."[xxiv] In the face of the unwillingness of the
Korean Christian groups to follow him, Rev. Moon began to gather his
own followers. Bromley and Shupe note that the persecution the
Unification Church faced at the hands of Christian churches in Korea
was "severe enough to increase UM solidarity, provide
confirmatory theological predictions, and supply raw material for
apocryphal tales of the movement's early triumphs over evil."[xxv]
They report that Rev. Moon was imprisoned when 64 Christian ministers
sent letters of complaint to the authorities. Bromley and Shupe
write, "Understandably, UM members later could look back and
regard this period as one of martyrdom for Rev. Moon and one that
aptly demonstrated the extremes of factionalism into which modern
Christianity had fallen."

Rev. Moon himself speaks of this situation: "Because of the
failure of the Christian churches to accept me in my early ministry…
they created all kinds of rumors during that period. If there had
been acceptance by the churches to begin with, we would not have had
those difficulties."[xxvi]

Thus was set up the situation detailed in Festinger's cognitive
dissonance theory, as well as Ehrman's description of the development
of the fortress mentality in new religious movements. In face of the
refusal of Kim, representing Christianity, to acknowledge Rev. Moon's
divine mission, early Unification members "sought to reduce or
eliminate the dissonance… [through] forget[ting] or reduc[ing]
the importance of those cognitions that are in a dissonance
relationship."[xxvii] In Ehrman's terms, "the small
splinter group begins to think that it has been excluded because
those of the larger society are willfully ignorant of the truth, or
evil, or demonically possessed."[xxviii] Through discrediting
Kim, claiming that he was consumed by jealousy of Rev. Moon, Rev.
Moon's legitimacy was maintained.

Moreover, the actualization of dissonance reduction of
Christianity is evident within the primary text of the Unification
movement, Exposition. Rev. Moon's speeches as well as the testimonies
of his early disciples may also reveal common sentiments; but for the
purpose of this paper I will focus on Exposition.

Prior to 1954, Rev. Moon taught his followers verbally, frequently
referring to the Bible. He finished his first written manuscript of
his teachings on May 10, 1954. The Preface to Exposition explains,
"the earliest manuscript of the Divine Principle was lost in
North Korea during the Korean War."[xxix] Although Rev. Moon
himself wrote another version, it was a later text written by Hyo Won
Eu, namely Exposition, that became the "text of Reverend Rev.
Moon's basic teaching."[xxx] Though Rev. Moon did not write
Exposition, it is clearly stated that Rev. Moon "meticulously"[xxxi]
checked the text. As such, that which is conveyed in the text,
directly as well as indirectly, is taken at face value.

An examination of Exposition reveals the existence of contempt
toward Christianity. Passages describing Christianity, scattered
throughout the text, describe a declining religion. The very first
mention of Christianity is made on the fourth page of the
Introduction. Though Christian history is praised, the statement is
prefaced with a cynical beginning: "Professing the salvation of
humankind."[xxxii] Similar treatment is given in the next
sentence. The Christian spirit is described as having "cast
flames of life so brilliant";[xxxiii] yet like the preceding
sentence it is prefaced by "Yet what has become…"[xxxiv]
In this manner, even praise for Christianity is weighed down by
negative initial remarks. Such doubtful praise of Christianity is
quickly rebuffed in the next paragraph by a bold statement:
"Christianity, though it professed the love of God, had
degenerated into a dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans."[xxxv]
Over and over, Christianity is portrayed as a powerless and
hypocritical religion. "Christianity today has fallen victim to
confusion and division."[xxxvi]

Through its attempts to discredit Christianity, Unificationism is
in essence legitimating itself. Thus Exposition serves as an
illustration of Festinger's phenomenon of reducing cognitive
dissonance. If Christianity is fully viewed as disintegrating in
character, it is not that Rev. Moon failed to succeed, but that
Christianity failed to understand Rev. Moon due to its increasing
spiritual decadence. Based on such a characterization, mutual respect
and thus dialogue cannot be expected to develop easily.

Admittedly, Exposition does not cast Christianity as intentionally
malicious or evil, yet Christianity may be perceived, through
Exposition, as an ignorant religion necessitating its supercession.
The second chapter of Exposition describes Christians as holding a
"vague belief"[xxxvii] in the explanation of the origin of
evil. A similar characterization of a wide range of Christian beliefs
regarding the Human Fall follows, adding to the illustration of
Christianity as an ignorant and wandering religion.

Particularly important to Unificationism is the appropriate
acceptance of the Lord of the Second Advent.[xxxviii] Thus in the
last chapter of Exposition, titled "Second Advent,"
especial attention is turned to warn Christians:

Many Christian clergy take pride in their knowledge of
the Bible and their ability to interpret it. They take pleasure in
the reverence they receive from their followers; they are content to
carry on the imposing duties of their offices; yet, to God's grief,
they are entirely ignorant of God's providence in the Last
Days.[xxxix]

Almost as if directly speaking from experience, Exposition
describes what it perceives to be the common trend among Christian
leadership. Regardless of the validity of this claim, it is clear
that Exposition does not foster constructive dialogue.

A critical examination of Exposition reveals the "us versus
them" mentality that agrees with Ehrman's description of the
inclination of new religions that split off from larger communities,
as mentioned above. It is clear that in Exposition, Unificationism
does not consider itself to be a part of the deteriorating Christian
religion. For this reason it deliberately laments in reference to the
Christian inability to fight communism, "What a pity this
is!"[xl] The Unification role in relation to Christianity is
finally introduced on page 7: "It may be displeasing to
religious believers, especially to Christians, to learn that a new
expression of truth must appear."[xli] The Unification view is
that the Divine Principle is this new truth. Yet to distinguish
Unification Principle as a truth existing outside of Christianity
implies that Unificationism lies wholly outside of Christianity. The
"us and them"[xlii] mentality is evident.

If Korean Christianity had accepted Sun Myung Moon in earlier
years, perhaps Exposition of the Divine Principle would have been
phrased differently. Yet as Roth and Rubenstein write, "to that
'if only,' others are commonly added."[xliii] As with all new
religions, Unificationism has faced the hardships thrust upon it by
the older, more established religions. This is evident in the
attitude of Unificationists as well as in the primary text of
Unification theology.

Yet as Unificationism has a self-ordained mission to unify the
Christian denominations, special scrutiny should be made of its
treatment of Christianity. Specifically seeking the support of
established Christianity, the Unification movement should be aware of
the stratification common between new religions and their mother
religion. The element of condescension and even resentment apparent
in Unification texts should be regarded with a wary eye. In order to
effectively unite the different denominations, and eventually
"establishing one global nation under God,"[xliv] as
described in the final sentence of Exposition, it is necessary for
Unificationism to discern its true feelings toward Christianity.

While efforts toward a deeper understanding of Christianity can be
illustrated in light of recent events, such as the growth of the
American Clergy Leadership Conference, I argue that rectification of
Unificationism's relationship with Christianity will require a clear
and objective recognition of possible hidden resentments and
bitterness glimpsed in Exposition. Following this, through developing
a theology devoid of condescending and loaded language, I believe
Unificationism can mature as a religion. For successful dialogue
between Christians and Unificationists, mutual respect must be
achieved prior to its initiation. In its current state of portraying
Christianity, Exposition does not provide the opportunity for that
respect to take root.

[i] Ken Sudo, "Father's Life," unpublished, p. 11.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken and Stanley Schachter, When
Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group
that Predicted the Destruction of the World (New York: Harper
Torchbooks, 1956), p. 27.

[iv] Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to
the Early Christian Writings (New York: Oxford University Press,
1997), p. 151.